The GOJ 2012-13 Budget (for discussion* purposes only)

Visualizing the Budget to Show where your taxes will get spent in 2012/13

An important feature of Budget Transparency, according to emerging International best practice, is making budget information available and accessible to CIvil Society (NGOs, journalists, citizens, etc.) in such a way that it provides a basis for discussions, participation and provides mechanisms for greater media / civil society engagement in the entire budget process. The 2012/13 GOJ Budget was published through traditional channels:
GOJ/MOF Website: http://www.mof.gov.jm/budgets/expenditure.html
Media/Gleaner: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/budget2012-2013-expenditures/
with subsequent commentary/analysis by various journalists and commentators.

This site presents the GOJ 2012/13 budget from different perspectives using Open Data / visualization tools. This is an evolving initiative, that will seek to encourage and build capacity for more effective data journalism.

 

Budget allocation by Government MInistries, Departments & Agencies - TreeMap: Another visual illustration of the stranglehold of Jamaica's debt burden. Education, Health, Security and Infrastructure, the things that Governments are primarily responsible for, pale in comparison.

Budget allocation by Government MInistries, Departments & Agencies - BubbleTree

*NB. Budget data derived from scraping pdf documents published on the Jamaica Ministry of Finance website: http://www.mof.gov.jm/budget/estimates/FY%202012-2013.
There may be slight differences between the figures presented on this site and the final budget annoubnced by the Minister of Finance in Parliament on Thursday May 24, 2012.